McMaster, H. R. (1962-…), served as the national security adviser to United States President Donald J. Trump in 2017 and early 2018. McMaster was also a lieutenant general in the United States Army.
The national security adviser, officially called the assistant to the president for national security affairs, is the president’s main consultant on national security issues. The national security adviser attends meetings of the National Security Council, which provides the president with guidance on defense, foreign policy, and intelligence issues.
Herbert Raymond McMaster, Jr., was born on July 24, 1962, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1984, he received a bachelor’s degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. He then received a commission as a second lieutenant. In 1985, he was stationed with the Army’s 2nd Armored Division at Fort Hood (now Fort Cavazos), Texas. In 1989, he was transferred to the 2nd Armored Cavalry Division in Germany. In February 1991, Captain McMaster won acclaim for leading a unit of tanks and other armored vehicles in a significant victory against Iraqi forces during the Persian Gulf War of 1991. During the mid-1990’s, he earned master’s and doctorate degrees in American history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During this time, he also taught history courses at West Point.
In the 2000’s, McMaster’s Army assignments included posts in Germany, the United States, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He also was a U.S. Army War College fellow in national security affairs at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution in California in 2002 and 2003. In 2008, McMaster attained the rank of brigadier general. He became a major general in 2012. In 2014, he achieved the rank of lieutenant general when he became the director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center and deputy commanding general at the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command in Virginia. McMaster retired from the Army in May 2018.
In February 2017, Michael Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, resigned from his position as President Trump’s national security adviser. Later in February, Trump named McMaster to replace Flynn as national security adviser. In March 2018, McMaster stepped down from the position. He and Trump had disagreements over policy pertaining to developments in Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. Trump named John R. Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to replace McMaster.
McMaster is the author of Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam (1997).
